Andrew is the heir to old Jocelyn Brandon, from whom he inherits Melstone House, the lands that go with it, and a magical field-of-care that he barely understands.
In his 30s and unmarried, Andrew is thrilled to be able to move into the house where he spent such happy times as a boy. He quits his university teaching job, sets up his computer, and prepares to have the kind of life he always dreamed of -- solitary, contemplative, and peaceful.
As it turns out, it appears that it will be none of those things.
First there are the quiet bits of warfare with the servants, Mr. Stock and Mrs. Stock (no relation). He is the gardener, and he's obsessed with growing the largest possible vegetables, the rejects of which he brings into the kitchen in a cardboard box, always coming just short of shattering the old stained glass panels in the kitchen door. Andrew learns to anticipate his entry and grab the door so it will open and close gently, but it's a close thing every time.
Then there's Mrs. Stock, the housekeeper, who keeps moving the furniture back into the positions it used to be in before Andrew had carefully set it all up the way he liked it. No matter what he said, whenever he was not in the house, she was always back in the sitting room moving everything into the places he didn't want it.
As time goes by, several other people come into Andrew's life at Melstone who make a positive difference. Young Aidan Cain, who was sent there for safety by his recently deceased grandmother is one. He's given the spare bedroom until Andrew can figure out what his situation is. And the two young representatives of the Stock families, Mr. Stock's niece Eustacia (Stache) and Mrs. Stock's sister Trixie's boy Shaun, are each presented by their relative as a perfect helper for Andrew -- Shaun to do odd jobs and Stache to help him with his computers. As these individuals' stories begin to weave in with Andrew's, things get very interesting and his life looks like it's going to be just fine.